Catalogue 30 – Winter 2005

125. (Laura Wait) Open Road: Vol. 1 - The Mountains and Deserts, Vol. II - The Pacific Coast. Artist’s book by Laura Wait. Denver. CO 1997. Accordion fold. 7.5" x 22". Open - 15’. Hand colored lithographs printed on 90 lb Saunders Waterford paper. Concertina binding on yellow and black cloth Bristol boards which hold the prints in place. Title page contains a ‘Legend’ of words having to do with road signs, and as keys for the images. End boards of yellow cloth with hand colored acrylic stencils of road signs. Black dropback box with recess containing handpainted road signs in yellow and black. One in an edition of 12 signed sets. Fine. $3,500.00

"These images were developed over a twenty-five year time period. I used to draw in the car while driving across the west, and include the mirrors and road signs, as they are an inseparable part of the view. The postcards were collected along the way, or sent by friends. Together, these images provide a better feeling of the journeys, than photographs, which are so important in recording modern travels. This book is meant to be traversed: stand it up on a big table and walk along it." - Wait. This dramatic work contains drawings from sketchbooks, and postcards collected on the trips, the 15’ opening gives some feeling of western space and movement.

126.  (Laura Wait) Road Signs. Artist's unique book by Laura Wait. [Colorado. 2002.] n.p. 10" x 5.75". Mixed media painting with handwritten text in black and gold. Painted Mylar endsheets. Binding with leather spine and exposed sewing in colored linen thread with a non-adhesive structure. Wood boards are covered with acrylic paint and varnished. Black cloth slipcase with paper title label. Unique signed book. Fine. $3000.00

Wait writes: "I have always been fascinated by the geometric road signs along the highway. They dot the road as a counterpoint to the vast landscape of the west. "I began this book in 1996 by cutting five linoleum blocks to use as stamps in the book. Four of these were used in the Open Road edition of 1997. The mixed media painting followed to complete the imagery of unknown roads, often traveled at night. The book remained incomplete for several years.

"In 2002, words of travel, many borrowed from the Open Road edition, were added in manuscript. The cover painting was made in the same sequence as the pages, with the road signs as major graphic elements.”

127.(Laura Wait) Four: Book V. Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall. Artist's book by Laura Wait. [Steamboat Springs. 2004.] n.p. 15" x 11". Beginning with several intaglio prints, monoprints are printed in several layers, using Akua-color. The pages were then organized according to promising relationships. Painting with acrylic ink, paste, and paint followed. Images in the prints were obscured or enhanced, and additional writing was added to finish the pages. Bound in black Harmatan goatskin tooled in gold and blind, with leather onlays, with the design inspired by the book pages with their use of geometric symbols and crowded blocks of type providing texture. Black cloth dropback box. One in a series of five unique variants, signed by the artist/maker. Fine. Highly recommended! $5750.00

The book explores the symbols of four - such as fire, earth, air, and water. Wait writes: "My interest in geometrical symbolism developed as an outgrowth of my interest in garden symbolism. The two are intertwined in world mythologies. Four directions, and the world divided into four are universal signs, with designations for elements, animals, saints, compass, colors, and seasons. I chose the words in this book from these designations, and used them repetitively in blocks to make the text more abstract.

“The intaglio prints in this book were started in 2000 as a series using crosses and church windows designs and details. They have not been printed as an edition, until their use as a jumping off point for these books. Monoprint painting was printed on top of these prints, with writing through the ink to create words in the images.

"Eventually handwriting and handpainting were added to the pages to finish them and create final relationships of facing pages."

128. (Laura Wait/Akimbo Arts Press) In the Garden. Text, illustrations and binding by Laura Wait. [Steamboat Springs. Colorado.] 2004. 24 leaves. 15.25" x 11.5". Six full spread woodcuts, with a seventh at the back endpaper which is a repetition of one of the illustrations in the book. These endpapers vary in the edition, so there are six different black/tan endpapers. Handcoloring allows the copies to be slightly different variants. Printed in wood type on pages with a collotype background and then toned with acrylic washes. Simplified binding of green leather spine with gold stamped title. Boards are wood covered in rubbings from the woodcut blocks. Black cloth dropback box made by Priscilla Spitler lined with dark green Japanese paper, and with paper title label. One in an edition of 50 copies signed by the artist. Fine. $1750.00

The text of the book is an alternate story of Adam and Eve, written by the artist and printed with wood type on a Takach etching press using Akua-color. Wait writes: "I have been working with garden imagery for seven or eight years, primarily in the venue of unique painted books. This book builds upon the imagery used in those books, and was started with the same overall sketches as [several of them].

Starting in the summer of 2003, these sketches were used in collage to make three large woodcuts. A combination of modern Dremel tools, and traditional Japanese woodcut tools were used. Six large Collotypes made on large sheets of thick bookboards with fabric and cut card were made, two each to pair with one of the woodcuts. My original intention was to make multicolor prints, in a smaller format. ... Ultimately I realized that the woodcuts would be more dramatic as double page spreads interspersed with the collotypes. The type was to be printed on alternating pages of the collotypes.

“The story of Adam and Eve is intertwined with Paradise symbols and garden mythology, and seemed a natural outgrowth to the garden symbol alphabet books I have been doing. In my study of symbolism, I have found that many old symbols have been adopted and modified by modern religions. I thought that the Adam and Eve story might be a prime example of this, so I wrote a slightly different version of the story."